


Wish You Were Here

by vanillalime



Category: Oz (TV)
Genre: Community: hardtime100, Family, Family Visit, Multi, Wishes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-19
Updated: 2016-08-19
Packaged: 2018-08-09 19:33:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,889
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7814371
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vanillalime/pseuds/vanillalime
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A teenage Holly Beecher does her best to share a few personal milestones with the people she loves.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Wish You Were Here

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted to LiveJournal in May 2015. Written for the Hardtime100 challenge prompt "Make a Wish."

_How I wish,_  
_How I wish you were here._  
_We’re just two lost souls_  
_Swimming in a fish bowl,_  
_Year after year._  
  
— from the song "Wish You Were Here" by Pink Floyd, lyrics by Roger Waters

*~*~*~*~*

Chris carefully placed his last checker on top of the pyramid and slowly sat back in his chair. Tilting his head, he smiled and admired his work before giving the table a sudden, deliberate jiggle, causing the checkers to tumble down with a clatter.  
  
Toby crossed his arms over his chest and huffed.  
  
Chris rolled his eyes as he gathered the checkers back into a pile. "Relax, Tobe. She’s fine."  
  
Toby ran his fingers nervously through his hair, pushing the wayward curls further back behind his ears. He threw Chris a sidelong glance. "You’re not the least bit worried?"  
  
"Nah, and you shouldn’t be either. She’s a big girl now."  
  
There was more huffing and more eye-rolling until, at last, Murphy tapped each of them on the shoulder.  
  
"She’s here," he announced. "Right on time. Let’s go."  
  
Toby popped up like a coiled spring, too pre-occupied to notice that Chris reacted almost as quickly.

*~*~*~*~*

Murphy opened the door to the visitors’ room, and Toby rushed inside. There was Holly, sitting alone at a table with two empty chairs. She was barely halfway out of her seat when Toby reached her. He pulled her close and hugged her tight, finally letting go to watch her give Chris a hug of his own.  
  
Over the sound of chair legs screeching across the tile floor, Toby asked, "So, everything went all right?"  
  
Holly smiled with a teenager’s self-confidence. "No problem."  
  
"Traffic was okay? Parking?"  
  
"Dad! I’ve driven here before, you know that."  
  
"Yeah, well, it’s different by yourself." Toby looked around, eyeing the guards at the door, and lowered his voice. "Any issues at the security gate?"  
  
"None at all! Stop worrying," Holly said soothingly. She took her father’s hand and gave it small squeeze. "This is going to be great! Now that I'm no longer considered a minor, I can come here every Visiting Day without depending on someone else."  
  
Toby squeezed her hand back.  
  
"This was absolutely the best part of turning eighteen," she enthused.  
  
Toby frowned suddenly at those words and looked down at the table.  
  
A look of concern passed briefly over Holly’s face before it was quickly replaced by a new smile. "Of course, Gran will still come when she can."  
  
"How is Mother?" Toby quietly asked.  
  
"Oh, she’s just fine!" Holly proclaimed. "Really! But it’s getting harder for her to get around. She’s just, you know, getting old." She paused. "Older," she corrected herself.  
  
Toby nodded his head and frowned again.  
  
Holly turned to address Chris. "Wow, let’s look at you! As handsome as always!"  
  
Toby lifted his head up at that. "Holly… " he began in warning.  
  
Chris gave a Holly a wink. "Yeah, well, you know me," he replied. "I’ve been workin’ out a lot." He beamed at her and raised his arm to flex his bicep.  
  
Toby glared at him. "Chris!" he hissed.  
  
A split second passed before Holly and Chris both broke down, laughing over Toby's discomfort, finally causing Toby to settle down with a chagrined smile of his own.  
  
"No Bonnie today?" Holly inquired after their laughter had died.  
  
The grin faded quickly from Chris’s face. "No," he answered shortly.  
  
Toby sighed and caught Holly’s eye. "Despite Chris’s misgivings, Bonnie decided to have that gastric bypass surgery," he explained.  
  
"Oh," said Holly softly.  
  
"She don’t need it," muttered Chris, tracing imaginary circles on the tabletop with his finger.  
  
"I’m sure her doctor has properly informed her of all the risks and benefits," Holly said awkwardly.  
  
Chris grunted and shifted in his seat.  
  
Holly fidgeted with a loose strand of her hair, tucking it behind her ear, and looked back at her father. Toby just shrugged.  
  
Holly cleared her throat. "Well, then, let's get down to business!" she exclaimed.  
  
She bent over and picked her handbag up off the floor. She opened it, pulled some photographs out of its depths, and carefully laid them out in front of her father and Chris.  
  
"I’ve narrowed it down to these three dresses," she explained with a shy smile. "What do you think?"  
  
Chris slowly inched his chair closer to Toby’s. The two of them took their time examining the photos, picking them up for a closer look, passing them back and forth.  
  
Finally, Toby said, "Not the red one." He laid one of the photos off to the side.  
  
"Yeah," agreed Chris. "Not unless you plan to wear a matching cape."  
  
"Or turtleneck," mumbled Toby under his breath.  
  
"A cape?" snickered Holly, shaking her head. "Like Little Red Riding Hood? How would I dance in that?" Then she leaned closer to them, grinning. "But if Connor acted like the Big, Bad Wolf, I guess it would make sense."  
  
Toby looked at her sharply. "He better not."  
  
Chris studied Toby for a moment before turning back to Holly. "Maybe I should have one of my old friends pay a little visit to Connor before prom. Have a man-to-man talk with him," he suggested.  
  
Holly gasped in mock horror. "No, no! I was just joking!" She brought her hands up in an imitation of surrender, missing the look that passed between her father and Chris and the quick shake of Toby’s head.  
  
Chris returned his attention to the dresses. "I’m not sure about this silver one," he said. "It kinda reminds me of a big disco ball."  
  
Toby tapped a finger on another photo. "I think I like this blue one the most. It really brings out the color of your eyes."  
  
"He’s right," nodded Chris.  
  
Holly smiled. "Then that’s settled. Blue it is!" She collected the photos and returned them to her handbag. She paused, then pulled out two large white envelopes and placed them on the table.  
  
"I also brought one of these for each of you," she explained. She hesitated before elaborating, "I could have mailed them, but I wasn’t sure what condition they might be in by the time they reached you, and, since I’m here… " Her voice trailed away as she pushed an envelope toward each of them.  
  
Chris took his envelope and carefully opened the flap, glancing at Toby, watching while he did the same. Inside was a tri-folded card, made of heavy stock, with engraved lettering and a raised crest on the front. Chris silently ran a finger over the different textures.  
  
Toby unfolded his card and removed the thin tissue insert. He read the writing aloud, using a quiet voice that cracked only once:

_We_

_The Class of 2011_

_are pleased to announce_

_Our Graduation_

_Saturday afternoon, June fourth_

_three o’clock_

Toby slid out the wallet-sized photo that had been secured into place along the edge of the card. He stared at the image of a smiling Holly—wavy blond hair hanging loose over a formal dress, hands folded demurely over the family Bible, blue eyes gazing back at him from her official senior class portrait.  
  
Toby sat there and looked back and forth between the announcement and the photo, while Holly and Chris watched. He didn’t say anything, and he didn’t look up.  
  
Finally, Chris turned toward Holly and broke the silence. "Holly, this is real nice," he said, waving the card in the air. Keeping his voice light, he continued, "But I’m pretty sure I got a conflict with the date."  
  
Holly gave a little laugh. "Oh, I know," she said. "I just thought, you know, that it would make a nice memento, anyway. I didn’t want you to think, either of you, to think… " stammered Holly before taking a deep breath, "… that I wasn’t thinking of you, wishing you were there."  
  
Toby made a small noise.  
  
Holly glanced at her father. Toying with an earring, she turned her pleading eyes back to Chris.  
  
Chris nodded and tapped his card along the top of the table. "I gotta a question, though. How do we know you’re really gonna graduate? Classes ain’t over for another month. What if you flunk somethin’?"  
  
Toby snorted at that.  
  
Holly gave Chris a grateful smile. "Well, technically, it’s possible, but there’s little danger of that. It’s hard not to let schoolwork slide a bit at this point, it’s what everyone does, but the teachers are pretty understanding. I’m still getting really good grades."  
  
Then Holly suddenly grimaced. "Except in physics. Ugh, I hate that class!" She tossed her handbag back onto the floor, and her cheeks flushed. "The teacher is horrible," she sighed in exasperation, "and there's so much I just don't understand. Luckily, Connor is taking it, too, and he helps me. Uncle Angus says not to worry, it’s a worthless subject if you want to become a lawyer. He says all the Beechers were deprived of the scientific gene."  
  
Toby’s head snapped up. "Angus said  _what_?"  
  
Holly returned her attention to her father. "He said that everyone in the Beecher family had always been bad at science," she reiterated.  
  
Toby rolled his eyes. "I got top marks in science, just like in everything else," he scoffed. "Sounds to me like Angus is projecting his own shortcomings."  
  
A slow grin spread over Holly’s face. "Angus? Exaggerate?" she gasped sarcastically. "Surely not!"  
  
Toby laughed out loud at the look on Holly’s face. He slowly put her picture and card back in their envelope. For the next several minutes, the two of them exchanged one story after another detailing Angus’s hyperbolic tendencies, while Chris kept the ball rolling by slyly asking perfectly-crafted questions that served to undermine Angus’s noble character.  
  
Eventually, the conversation turned back to Holly’s classes at school. She contrasted the pain of physics to the pleasures of English literature, which she declared to be her favorite subject at the moment. This revelation led to an animated discussion between father and daughter as they critiqued the required reading list for the class. Holly and Toby, and even Chris, were in the midst of drawing parallels between "The Lord of the Flies" and prison life when Murphy flashed the signal.  
  
Holly slowly pushed her chair back. Chris leaned over and picked up her handbag, but demanded another hug before handing it over. Holly obliged, then used the handbag to playfully smack Chris in the arm.  
  
Toby embraced her, and Holly immediately read his mind. "Don’t worry," she reassured him. "I will be extra careful driving home." She pulled away and, with a serious expression, said, "I even promise not to give anyone the thumb."  
  
Toby stared at her for a second until the connection was made. Then he began to laugh uncontrollably.  
  
Chris just stood there, squinting in confusion. "Okay, what the hell does that mean?" he finally asked.  
  
Holly’s glowing eyes never left her father’s face as she answered, "Inside family joke."  
  
Toby caught his breath. "One time, back when I was first learning to drive," he explained, "my overprotective mother gave me strict instructions to never flip anyone off with my thumb." Wiping a tear away, he said, "We never let her live it down."  
  
Murphy approached them and gave a nod of his head.  
  
"Love you, Dad!" Holly said brightly as she let go. "And I'll let Gran know she was here in spirit," she added with a smile.  
  
It wasn't until her father was out of sight that Holly's smile faltered.

*~*~*~*~*

After dinner, Toby slowly brushed his teeth, taking his time to gaze at Holly’s graduation announcement, which now rested on the toiletry shelf above the pod’s sink. When he was done, he carefully pushed the card further to the left, out of the way of their toothpaste.  
  
Chris approached him from behind and put his arm across Toby’s shoulder. "It’s amazing what she’s done, Toby," he said. "You should be proud."  
  
"I am."  
  
Chris rubbed his thumb against the nape of Toby’s neck. "Are you as proud of her as you were of me, when I graduated?" he asked softly.  
  
Toby smiled. "Yes," he answered, pushing the card back to the right a little. "Just in a different way."  
  
Chris nodded and squeezed Toby’s shoulder. They stood there together, looking at the card, and Chris slowly began to move his arm down Toby’s back, lower and lower… until an obnoxious crashing sound against the plexiglass wall of their pod caused them both to jump.  
  
"All right, you two lovebirds!" bellowed Murphy from the doorway. "Wait 'til lights out. You know the agreement."  
  
Chris glared at Murphy, but took a step back. "Jesus, you’re as bad as the rest of 'em," he muttered. "Always seein' things that ain’t there."  
  
Murphy walked into the pod. "Spare me the drama queen denials, Keller," he said. "Hey, Beecher!"  
  
Toby mirrored Chris’s glare. "What?" he snapped in irritation.  
  
"Holly made it home okay. Safe and sound."  
  
Toby blinked. "What?" he repeated in surprise, his anger gone.  
  
"You heard me."  
  
Toby exchanged a look with Chris, then turned back toward Murphy. "How do you know that?" he asked.  
  
Shrugging, Murphy walked back out into the corridor and continued on his way.  
  
Toby rubbed his eyes with the palms of his hands and breathed a sigh of relief. He turned awkwardly and stumbled backwards, right into Chris’s arms.

*~*~*~*~*

Holly twirled around in front of the dressing room's full-length, tri-view mirror. Slowly, she came to a stop, facing the mirror. Victoria sat nearby and watched with pride.  
  
"This blue really does bring out the color of my eyes," observed Holly as she gazed at her reflection. "Dad was right."  
  
"It's lovely," her grandmother agreed. "And the fabric is exceptionally soft, even for silk." Victoria hesitated, but continued, "I thought you were leaning toward the silver one, though. It's lines are so flattering to your figure."  
  
"Chris said that one looked like a big disco ball," explained Holly, grinning at the memory.  
  
Victoria frowned. "Oh, well, if that's what  _Chris_  said... "  
  
Immediately, Victoria bit her lip, realizing that she'd been unable to keep the sarcasm out of her tone. She glanced at Holly, but her granddaughter gave no indication of having heard what she’d said. Holly just turned around and twisted her head to the see the back of the dress in mirror.  
  
Victoria gestured to the boutique’s sales associate.  
  
"Want me to apply this to your account, ma’am?" the clerk asked.  
  
Victoria nodded. "The shoes as well," she added.  _Hopefully, Chris doesn’t have a problem with them, too,_  she thought. She was proud to have kept that to herself.  
  
A short while later, Victoria and Holly walked out of the store and began to make their way toward the shopping mall’s exit. Once again, Victoria’s hip was bothering her more than she cared to admit, and their pace gradually grew slower. As they approached the main courtyard, it was Holly who suggested that they stop to rest for a bit.  
  
They sat down on a bench next to the large, marble fountain that served as the courtyard’s centerpiece. Perched at the top of the multi-tiered fountain was a trio of angelic cherubs, and water sprayed forth from the urns they held in their arms. Together, Victoria and Holly quietly watched the water as it rained down, cascading over the fountain’s tiers and collecting into the large basin at the bottom. Copper pennies and silver nickels and dimes sparkled up from the floor of the basin under the bright lighting.  
  
Holly set aside the garment bag that held her prom dress and opened her handbag. She pulled out her wallet and selected a fat nickel from the coin compartment. She straightened her arm and balanced the nickel over her thumb.  
  
Victoria smiled. "Aim for the top tier," she challenged Holly.  
  
Holly flicked the nickel up into the air. Victoria watched the graceful arc of the coin as it flew over the basin and heard the deep plunking sound as it landed into the water at the top of the fountain.  
  
"Good girl!" cried Victoria with a clap of her hands. "What did you wish for?"  
  
Victoria looked back at Holly, only to see a wobbling chin and damp eyelashes over closed eyes.  
  
Victoria’s heart froze. Out of sympathy, she quickly looked back at the fountain, pretending that she hadn’t seen Holly’s distress.  
  
Only seconds later, however, Victoria heard a strong, steady voice in her ear. "Now, Gran," Holly cautioned, "you know that if I tell you my wish, it won’t come true."  
  
At that moment, Victoria would have spent every last penny of the Beecher family fortune to make Holly’s wish come true.  
  
Staring straight ahead, Victoria replied, "Of course. You’re right." She took a deep breath while her mind raced. Finally, she grasped onto an idea. "It’s been a while since lunch," she noted. "Why don’t we stop by that sweet roll shop on the way out? Let’s get two of those big, sticky cinnamon buns and take them home to eat."  
  
"Oh, yes!" exclaimed Holly. "With extra cream cheese frosting?"  
  
Victoria finally looked at her and smiled, nodding her head.  
  
Holly helped her to her feet and said, "See, Gran, this is why we get on so well. We’re so much alike."  
  
Victoria knew Holly was right. She just wasn’t sure if it was for better or worse.


End file.
